4.4.3 Assessment of:
- environment – currents, depth, visibility
- aids – anything that may assist in buoyancy, reaching or getting to the person in difficulty
- your skills and ability – remember that a number of would be rescuers also drown each year.
- the type of patient – the characteristics of the patient will determine how they will respond and thus what method of rescue and what aids will be most appropriate
- the numbers of patients – many rescues have more than one person in difficulty. Whom do you rescue first?
By being able to categorise the type of person who is in difficulty a rescuer can ascertain the best method of rescue.
A rescuer can generally categorise people in difficulty into one of four categories